"If you want to be a writer, you have to write everyday."

I heard Kareem Adbul-Jabbar say this at an author's fair recently. The former NBA great is now a children's book writer. I have also heard that Stephen King writes for 8 hours every workday. While this explains why he is so prolific, it also points to the fact that he views writing as his job, not a hobby. If you want to be good at anything, you have to practice, and writing is no exception.

Unfortunately, I have a full time job and can't write every day. (Actually, shouldn't that be "fortunately" I have a full time job? Let's face it, if I only wrote for a living, I'd probably starve.)

I write when and where I can. I have been told my most successful book will be a compilation of humorous emails I write once a week to the LA office. On the one hand, folks who tell me this are complimenting my emails. On the other, they are backhanding my novels, although I'm sure they don't realize it. Pretty sure.

Anyway, this inability to write every day may explain the three year stretch between The Trust Company and The Long Squeeze. But I will make every effort to do a better job and try to shorten the time between The Long Squeeze and my next book, the third Nick Sanders novel.